Study and graduate visas

Student visas

Advice for people applying to study in Australia, and for students already here whose course, provider or enrolment has changed.

General information, not legal advice. This page sets out how the law generally applies. It does not take account of your circumstances, and you should get advice about your own situation before acting on it. The official sources this page is written from are listed on it; where they differ from anything here, they are the authority.

Who this visa is for

People enrolled in an Australian course

The Student visa (subclass 500) lets you stay in Australia to study full time in a course registered on CRICOS. One subclass covers every sector, so the same visa is used for an English language course, a school enrolment, a vocational qualification and a doctorate. Your partner and dependent children can be included in the application, or added later.

For applications lodged from 23 March 2024 the Genuine Student requirement replaced the genuine temporary entrant test. The focus moved onto whether you genuinely intend to study the course you have chosen. It is assessed through targeted questions about your circumstances at home, your reasons for choosing this course and this provider, any study you have already done in Australia and what the qualification is for.

You also need a Confirmation of Enrolment for your course, evidence that your study and living costs can be met, health cover for the period of the visa, and English at the level your course requires. The Department publishes the current evidence requirements, which have changed more than once in recent years, so check them against the date you intend to lodge.

Where you apply from matters. A legislative instrument lists the visas whose holders cannot lodge a student visa application in Australia. Visitor visas have long been on that list, including the Electronic Travel Authority (subclass 601) and the eVisitor (subclass 651), and from 1 July 2024 the Visitor visa (subclass 600) and the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) were added to it. If you hold one of the listed visas the application has to be made from outside Australia, so it is worth checking the list before you assume you can lodge here. If you can apply onshore and hold a valid visa when you do, a bridging visa will usually keep you lawful while a decision is made; our guide to bridging visas explains how those work.

How we help

Before you lodge, and when things change

Getting the application right

We look at the course, the provider and your study history together, because that is how the Genuine Student requirement is assessed. We help you answer the targeted questions in your own words and assemble the documents behind them, and we say so plainly when an application looks weak.

Changing course, provider or level

Condition 8202 ties your visa to enrolment at the level it was granted for. Moving to a lower level course, transferring provider or taking an unplanned break can put you in breach even where the new provider is willing to take you. We check what your visa allows before you sign anything.

When enrolment stops

If your provider reports you for attendance or course progress, or cancels your enrolment, the notice you are given states how long you have to use its internal appeals process. That period is short. Once a report is made, the Department can consider cancelling your visa under section 116 of the Migration Act 1958, which allows cancellation where a visa condition has not been complied with and, for a student visa, where the holder is not or is likely not to be a genuine student.

What comes after the course

We advise on whether the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) is open to you and which stream matches your qualification. The window to apply after you finish studying is short. The maximum age at the time of application was reduced on 1 July 2024, and the English requirement is set by a legislative instrument that has been remade since then, so check both against the date you intend to lodge rather than against what applied when you started your course.

Questions

Student visa questions

How many hours can I work?

Condition 8105 does two things. Before your course starts you must not work at all, unless when you applied for the student visa you held a visa that already allowed you to work. Once the course is in session you must not work more than 48 hours in a fortnight, and a fortnight here means a fixed 14 days beginning on a Monday, not any two weeks you choose. There is no cap during your provider’s scheduled course breaks. Work that was registered as a requirement of the course does not count towards the cap, and the cap does not apply if your visa was granted for a masters degree by research or a doctoral degree and you have commenced it. The cap covers all your paid work together, including work you invoice under an ABN. Your grant notice lists the conditions actually imposed on you.

What is the Genuine Student requirement?

It is the criterion that replaced the genuine temporary entrant test for applications lodged from 23 March 2024. You answer targeted questions about your circumstances, your reasons for choosing the course and the provider, and what you intend to do with the qualification. Answers that do not match your documents or your study history are a common reason for refusal.

My provider says it intends to report me. What should I do?

Read the notice the day it arrives. It states how long you have to use the provider’s internal appeals process, and that period is short. Use it, and get advice at the same time. The problem is far easier to deal with now than after a report has been made.

If my enrolment is cancelled, is my visa cancelled too?

No. Your visa continues until the Department cancels it, and cancellation is a separate process in which you are normally given written notice and a chance to respond. That is not a reason to wait. Secure a new Confirmation of Enrolment if you can, and answer anything the Department sends you within the time it gives you.

Can I apply for a student visa while I am in Australia?

It depends on the visa you hold now. A legislative instrument lists the visas whose holders cannot lodge a student visa application in Australia. It includes the Visitor visa (subclass 600), the Electronic Travel Authority (subclass 601), the eVisitor (subclass 651) and the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485); subclass 600 and subclass 485 were added from 1 July 2024. Separately, if condition 8503 is on your current visa you cannot be granted any substantive visa other than a protection visa while you remain in Australia, unless the condition is waived. Check your grant notice, and check the list, before you plan on applying from inside Australia.

Is there an age limit on the Temporary Graduate visa?

Yes. There is a maximum age at the time of application and it was reduced on 1 July 2024, when the Post-Study Work stream was renamed the Post-Higher Education Work stream and the Graduate Work stream became the Post-Vocational Education Work stream. A higher maximum is kept for masters by research and doctoral graduates and for Hong Kong and British National (Overseas) passport holders. The current figures are published on the Department’s page for the subclass 485 visa.

My student visa was refused or cancelled. Can I do anything?

Some student visa decisions can be reviewed by the Administrative Review Tribunal, which replaced the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on 14 October 2024. Where you were when you applied usually decides it. A refusal is generally reviewable only if you made the application while you were in Australia, so a refusal of an application lodged from overseas often carries no right of merits review for the applicant. A cancellation decided while you are in Australia is generally reviewable. Your decision record states whether review is available and who may apply for it. The time limit is strict, is stated in that record and cannot be extended in migration matters. Our page on visa refusals and cancellations and our guide to what comes next set out the steps.

What to bring to a first consultation

Bring the paperwork in whatever state it is in. Dates matter more here than tidiness.

Your passport and the grant notice for every Australian visa you hold or have held
Your Confirmation of Enrolment or letter of offer, and the details of the course and provider
Any letter from your provider about attendance, course progress or enrolment, and the date you received it
Academic transcripts and attendance records, with anything you have already sent the provider in response
Evidence of your health cover and of how your study and living costs are being met
The decision record for any visa that has been refused or cancelled
If you are considering the subclass 485 visa, your course completion date and the evidence of your Australian study